Telephone-booth.



No. 704,987. Patented July l5, I902.

F. L. TUFTS.

TELEPHONE BOOTH.

(Application filed Dec. 24, 1901 (No mam.

w ll H HIH , transmission of sound through them.

FRANK LEO TUFTS, OF NEW YORK,

HERSCHEL O. PARKER,

PATENT CEEICE.

N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

TELEPHONE-BOOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,987, dated July 15, 1902.

Application filed December 24,1901. $erial No. 87,056; (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK LEO TUFTS, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone-Booths, 01:,which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in telephone-booths; and the object of my in vention is to produce a booth in which privacy of conversation can be preserved, the walls being constructed so as to prevent the Since filing my application No. 81,232 on November 5, 1901, I have been experimenting with sound transmission, and I find that a tube, for instance, which is circular in crosssection will transmit high notes as well as and perhaps better than a tube which is fiatsided; but, on the other hand, the low notes are cut out bythe circular tube, and the fiatsided tube carries them much better. In making these experiments I have found, too, that certain tones, and perhaps most tones, can be kept Within a booth if it is made octagonal or polygonal in shape, or, in fact, if its broad sides are broken, so as to be less than the sides of a rectangular booth in width. In carrying out this idea the Walls are so braced in different directions as to prevent the vibratory and sounding-board effect. Further, as the circular form of booth cuts out certain tones and the fiat-sided booth cuts out certain other tones I have found that by combining these two ideas and inclosing'a circular booth within a structure having fiat sides (even a rectangular outer structure will do) all tones are practically confined to the booth, and so the person using the telephone is in no danger of being overheard from without.

To these ends my invention consists of a telephone-booth the construction of which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a sectional plan of a telephone- 1 booth embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of a similar booth, but with slightly-different doors. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a group of booths, and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of a modified form of booth in which one circular in cross-section is inscribed or included in one of rectangular shape.

The booth may be made of any suitable material'such as metal, wood, papier-mach, or other suitable substance and either with single or double walls; but it is provided with a series of fiat sides 10 and is polygonal in cross-section. I find that the octagonal form, as illustrated, is well suited for the intended purpose; but the effect is preserved if six sides are used, and obviously a greater or less number of sides can be made; but the structure must be polygonal or else the soundingboard efiect is not overcome and the soundwaves go through the walls.

The booth, as shown in Fig. 1, has swinging doors 11, forming one side or panel of the structure; but sliding doors 12, moving in guides 13, can be used, these being arranged at one of the corners,orany other suitable door can be employed.

To preserve the greatest privacy, a booth 14 of circular cross-section can be inclosed in one 15 of a rectangular or polygonal shape, the rectangular form being shown, and suitable doors 16 and 17 can be provided for the booth. Obviously the top or roof can be made of the same general shape as the sides, and I have not thought necessary to illustrate this feature.

These booths can be used singly or collectively; but the booth is especially designed for use in close proximity to others, so that for economy of space a group of booths can be arranged as usual, and yet a person in one cannot hear the conversation in an adjoining one.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A telephone-booth comprising an inner structure formed with curved Walls, and an In testimony whereof I have signed my outer fiat-sided structure inclosing the said name to this specification in the presence of inner structure. two subscribing witnesses.

2. The combination ofadouble-wailed booth FRANK LEO TUFTS. provided with suitable means of ingress and Witnessesi egress, the inner wall being curved and the H. O. PARKER, outer walls being flat. 1 WARREN B. HUTCHINSON. 

